Today we’re featuring a guest post from Mississippi student Jack D who shares how the EverFi – Financial Literacy course taught him how to make good choices with money now to help him reach his goals in the future. Congrats to Jack for being one of our student blog contest winners!

The EverFi program has helped me greatly in realizing the potential that I have. The positive impact that EverFi has had on my life is something that most people would see as something small. In reality, the effect of this program has been huge and will provide me with good opportunities in the future. The program has taught me to have a greater respect for money than I previously did. I now realize that money is valuable and it does not come easily. Before EverFi, I was a very impulsive spender. Now I would consider myself very frugal, especially for a student in high school. I currently have a job that I work on weekends that pays plenty for a 9th grade employee, but I used to spend all of my money within days of getting it. Now with that money I have started a college fund that has risen above one thousand dollars! This will help me get the education I aspire for at a university that I might not be able to afford otherwise. I plan to implement the financial skills taught to me by Everfi for the rest of my life. I have plans to begin investing in the stock market once I feel I have a comfortable enough budget. I would have never known how to invest or even what the stock market was if not for the education provided by this program. I know that in the future, whether I’m buying a car, renting an apartment, or anything else that has to do with money, I can have confidence and knowledge behind my decisions.